Garage door hinge



July 12, 1955 Filed July 51, 1952 H, P. LIPKING GARAGE DOOR HINGE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig./

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Henry F. Lipking INVENTOR.

BY @zwami.

July 12, 1955 H. P. LIPKING 2,712,670

GARAGE DOOR HINGE Filed July 51, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F ig. 2 F /'g. 3

Henry I? Lipkin g INVENTOR.

Mm 52 MM United States Patent GARAGE DooR HINGE Henry P. Lipking,Fresno, Califi, assignor to Harlan E. Stocks, Fresno, Calif.

Application July 31, 1952, Serial No. 301,881

6 Claims. (Cl. 16129) The present invention relates to hinge mountingsand more particularly relates to a hinge mounting construction foroverhead doors, such as those commonly used in garages, warehouses,airplane hangars, etc.

In the past, many types of hinge mountings for overhead doors have foundcommercial acceptance in the building industry. However, nearly all ofthese mountings include portions which must project some distance withinthe building on which the door is mounted thereby seriously affectingthe full utilization of the garage or warehouse space. Further, the bulkof the prior art hinge mountings of this character require considerableclearance above the door header in order to permit the required verticalswinging movement of the door. Also, it has been noted in the prior artmountings of this character that due to a large variance in thetensioning of the spring as the door is vertically swung, an undesirablesnap action results that will not permit the door to be held in selectedpositions.

Therefore, the objects of this invention are primarily to provide ahinge mounting that does not have any projecting lugs, arms, brackets orsprings extending within the interior of the building, and to provide ahinge mounting for an overhead door whereby a very low overheadclearance is required in the operation of the door, the presentinvention requiring only five inches clearance in contrast to a minimumof nine inches in prior art devices of the same character.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a hinge mountingbracket for overhead doors which is spring actuated and whereby thespring is maintained in substantially the same state of tension at alltimes during the operation of the door between open and closedpositions.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by this hinge mounting, a preferred embodiment ofwhich is shown by way of example only in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the overhead door hinge mountingwith the door shown in open position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the hinge mounting showing thedoor in closed position;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view taken from the inside of a buildingof the hinge mounting of the present invention;

Figure 4 is an end view of the hinge mounting taken substantially alongsection line 44 of Figure l; and

Figure 5 is an exploded view of the elements comprising the hingemounting.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail wherein likereference numerals designate like parts throughout the various views,the hinge mounting is designated generally by the numeral which, in thepreferred embodiment shown in the drawings, interconnects a door jamb 12and a door 14. It is to be noted that although only one door jamb andone hinge mounting are shown in the drawings, a similar jamb frames the"ice other side of the door 14 with the header 16 interconnecting thesejambs and completing the door framing. Thus, the overhead door 14 swingsabout hinge mountings 10 mounted on each of the door jambs.

The hinge mounting 10 comprises a mounting bracket 18 which is in theform of an angle iron having flanges 20 and 22. Each of the flanges 2i)and 22 has a portion thereof cut away in the interest of lightness andmaterial saving. The cut-away portion in the flange 20 takes the form ofa rectangular cut-away 24 throughout the length of the upper portion ofthis flange. The cut-away portion in flange 22 takes the form of arectangular notch 26 cut in the upper portion of the flange to provide aprojecting lug or arm 28 at the upper end thereof.

Vertically spaced apertures 30 are formed in the flange 20 of thebracket 13 and bolts 32 passing through these openings secure the anglebracket 18 to the upper portion of the door jamb 12 in such a mannerthat the flange 22 extends into the building 34.

Secured to the door 14 adjacent and parallel to the jamb 12 is anelongated angle iron member 36 having flanges 38 and 40. Flange 38 isformed with vertically aligned apertures 42 through which bolts 44extend to fasten the angle member 36 to the door 14. It will be notedthat when the door 14 is in closed position as shown in Figures 2 and 3,the elongated angle member 36 has its upper end disposed adjacent thelower end of the angle bracket 18 with its lower end being disposedremote from the angle bracket 18.

Arranged in the lower portion of the flange 22 of the bracket 18 is apair of vertically staggered apertures 46 and 48 while the arm or lug 28is provided with a p1urality of horizontally spaced apertures 50. Theupper end of the flange 49 of the angle member 36 is provided with anaperture 52 while the longer end of the flange 49 is provided with aplurality of vertically spaced apertures 54. Intermediate the ends ofthe flange 40 is secured a lug 56 having a central aperture 58 therein.

Pivotally secured to the hinge bracket flange 22 via lower verticallystaggered aperture 48 is a hinge arm or link 69. The lower end of thelink 69 is pivotally secured to the lug 56 via aperture 58. In the uppervertically staggered aperture 46 of the flange 22 of the bracket 18 ispivotally secured one end of a second hinge arm or link 62, the lowerend of which is secured via aperture 52 to the upper end of flange 40 ofthe angle member 36. As is obvious from the drawings, the upper link 62is considerably shorter than the lower link 60 while the distancebetween their pivot points on the flange 22 is very short for a purposethat will become immediately apparent.

Secured in one of the selected apertures 59 of the lug 28 on the bracket18 is a laterally extending bolt 64 having the head thereof in the formof an eyelet 66. Hooked into the eyelet 66 is one end of a coil spring68, the other end of which is hooked into a selected aperture 54 of theflange 40 by means of a bolt 70 similar in construction to bolt 64.

The link 60 is made into two parts 72 and 74, the part 72 having a pairof longitudinally aligned slots 76 adjacent one end and the part 74having a pair of longitudinally aligned apertures 78 at one end. Theslots 76 are aligned with the apertures 78 and bolts 8i) are passedtherethrough to secure these two parts to one another. Thus, the link 62is longitudinally adjustable to compensate for the desired positioningof the lug 56 on the flange 40. The plurality of apertures 50 and 54 towhich the ends of the spring 68 are secured provide a convenient meanswhereby the tension of the spring 68 may be adjusted to compensate fordoors of various weights.

It is to be further noted that the links 60 and 62 are 1 relativelyclose spacing center of gravity of the door.

' tion. there is no necessity for elongated, lateral projections securedto the angle member 36 and the angle bracket 28 by means of rivets.

In operation, as the door 14 is lifted, it is pivoted about the hingebracket 13 by virtue of the connection'of the links 60 and 62 thereto.In view of the of the pivotal connections of the hinge arms or links 6%and d2 to the fiange 2.2 of the bracket 3.8, the door 14 is permitted topivot about a substantially common pivot point whereby the clearanceneeded to vertically swing the door is held to an absolute minimum,namely, around five inches as stated in the objects of the invention,while also by virtue of this close pivotal connection of the links 69and 62 to the flange 22, the spring 68 is maintained under an almostconstant state of tension with very little variance, the

variance acting only to decrease slightly as the door is raised tocompensate for the change in position of the Thus, any snap action whichwould ordinarily be present in hinge mountings of this type is preventedand the door may be stopped at any desired point during its raising andlowering mo- Further, it is obvious that by this arrangement,

extending into the interior of the building upon which .the door ismounted and, therefore, substantially all of the space within thebuilding adjacent the garage door mounting is enabled to be utilized.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction andoperation of the hinge mounting will be readily apparent. cations andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a perusalof the foregoiu specification However, since numerous modifitaken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described. But, allsuitable modifif3. cations and changes may be resorted to which fallwith in the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as 7 new is:

l. A hinge mounting for an overhead, swinging door a,

comprising an angle bracket adapted to be mounted on a door jarnb, anelongated angle member adapted to be mounted on a door, one end of saidmember being dis" posed adjacent said bracket and the other end of saidmember being disposed remote from said bracket, 21

.pair of links pivoted at their ends to said bracket and member, theends of said links pivoted to said bracket being longitudinally spacedfrom one another along the length of said bracket, the ends of saidlinks pivoted to said member being spaced from one another along theflength of the member, and a coil spring connected at f its ends to saidmember and said bracket, said coil spring a pair of links pivoted attheir ends to said bracket and member, the ends of said links pivoted tosaid bracket being longitudinally spaced from one another along thelength of said bracket,'the ends of said links pivoted to said memberbeing spaced from one another along the length of the member, and acoilspring connected at its ends to said member and said bracket, saidlinks being of different lengths, the shorter of said links beingpivotally secured to the end of said member adjacent said bracket, saidcoil spring being secured to said bracket above said links and to saidmember below said links.

3. A hinge mounting for an overhead, swinging door comprising an anglebracket adapted to be mounted on et being longitudinally spaced from oneanother along the length of said bracket and a coil spring connected atits ends to said member and said bracket, said links being of differentlengths, the shorter of said links bepivotally secured to the end ofsaid member adjacent said bracket, the longer of said links beingpivotally secured to the member intermediate the ends of said member,the longer of said links being longitudinally adjustable, said coilspring being connected to said bracket above said links and to saidmember below the longer of said links.

4. A hinge mounting for an overhead, swinging door comprisim an anglebracket adapted to be mounted on a door jamb, an elongated angle memberadaptedto be mounted on a door, one endof said member being disposedadjacent said bracket and the other end of said member being disposedremote from said bracket, a pair of links pivoted at their ends to saidbracket and member, the ends of said links pivoted to said bracket beinglongitudinally spaced from one another along the length of said bracket,the ends of said links pivoted to said member being spaced from oneanother along the length of the member, and a coil spring connected atits ends to said member and said bracket, the remote end of said memberhaving a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures therein, one endof said spring being secured in a selected one of said apertures, saidbracket having a plurality of transversely spaced apertures thereinabove said links, the other end of said spring being secured in one ofsaid transversely spaced apertures, said links being of differentlengths, the longer of said links being connected to the lower portionof said member and being of adjustable length.

5. A hinge mounting for an overhead, swinging door comprising a bracketadapted for mounting on a door jamb, fastening means adapted forvertical positioning on a door adjacent the door jamb to which thebracket is attached, a pair of links pivoted at their ends to saidbracket and said fastening means, the ends of said links pivoted to saidbracket being longitudinally spaced 7 from one another along the lengthof the bracket, the ends of said links pivoted to said fastening meansbeing vertically spaced from one another on said fastening means, and acoil spring connected at its ends to said fastening means and saidbracket, said spring being attached to said bracket above said links,and to said fastening means below said links.

6. A hinge mounting for an overhead, swinging door comprising a bracketadapted for mounting on a door jamb, fastening means adapted forvertical positioning on a door adjacent the door jamb to which thebracket is attached, a pair of links pivoted at their ends to saidbracket and said fastening means, the ends of said links pivoted to saidbracket being longitudinally spaced from one another along the length ofthe bracket, the ends of said links pivoted to said fastening meansbeing vertically spaced from one another on said fastening means, and acoil spring connected at its ends to said fastening means and saidbracket, said spring being attached to said bracket above said links.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS635,605 Seng Oct. 24, 1899 2,162,381 Guth June 13, 1939 2,516,196 FowlerJuly 25, 1950 2,569,351 Smith Sept. 25, 1951'

